Apparatus for regenerating water softening material



Feb. 1, 1955 G. A. SCHERNEKAU APPARATUS FOR REGENERATING WATER SOFTENINGMATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 20, 1952 Feb. 1, 1955 G. A.SCHERNEKAU 1,

APPARATUS FOR REGENERATING WATER SOFTENING MATERIAL Filed Feb. 20, 19522 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,g wwm United States Patent APPARATUS FOR REGENERATINGWATER SOFTENING MATERIAL Gustav Adolph Schernekan, Indianapolis, Ind.,assignor 0f one-sixth to Paul G. Schernekau, one-sixth to Emil R.Schernekau, one-sixth to Robert Eugene Schernekau, one-sixth to JackHall Schernekau, and one-sixth to Kenneth Allen Schernekau ApplicationFebruary 20, 1952, Serial No. 272,673

5 Claims. (Cl. 210-24) This invention relates to a system and apparatusfor simultaneously exhausting spent water softening material from aplurality of containers, and immediately thereafter simultaneouslyreplenishing said containers with regenerated material.

As is well known, a great majority of the water softening units in usetoday are portable and are owned and serviced by a private company. Theservice company contracts with home owners to furnish and thenperiodically service the cylinders containing the water softeningsubstance. It is customary after the service company representative hassubstituted a regenerated cylinder for one that is substantiallyexhausted or spent, to take the latter to the service plant. There ithas heretofore been necessary for the substantially spent and exhaustedcylinders to be individually and manually processed. This involves firstremoving the spent material fro-m each cylinder and thereafterreplenishing it with regenerated material. These operations not only aretime consuming but require considerable personnel and are, therefore,relatively expensive. In addition, a certain amount of the material isinevitably lost or wasted during either the exhausting or thereplenishing operation, or both.

It is, therefore, the primary object of this invention to provide asystem and apparatus which may be used with conventional base exchangewater softening cylinders to simultaneously process a plurality ofthe-m, i. e. first exhaust and then immediately replenish their Watersoftening materials in a ready, effective and economical manner.

This is accomplished through the use of apparatus which supports aplurality of cylinders each of which is connected in series to theothers, to a water supply system and to a regenerating tank in suchmanner that they may be processed simultaneously. Not only does theapparatus and system reduce materially the time required and thepersonnel needed to perform the operations but as well reduces if notentirely eliminates the loss and waste of the base exchange material.Tests have proven that the cylinders need be handled during the entireprocessing but once for every six times they are handled during theconventional processing methods heretofore employed.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatusand system of such character that it will become visually apparent tothe operator just when the first operation of removing the material fromthe cylinders is completed, as well as just when the second operation ofreplenishing the cylinders with rejuvenated material is accomplished. Itis thus unnecessary to estimate or guess as to when each operation iscompleted, nor to use any timing devices or transparent cylinders.

Heretofore, several methods and means have been devised to regeneratethe exhausted or spent material within the cylinders themselves. Whilethese methods have served a useful purpose there have been manydisadvantages connected with them. For example there is no way of makingcertain that the material in the respective cylinders will be uniformlyrejuvenated. In order to assure complete, effective and uniformrejuvenation of the material for each and all cylinders there is nosubstitute for a regeneration tank having substantial capacity. Onlythrough its use can there be assurance that the degree of rejuvenationof the material will be the same for all cylinders. It is, therefore, astill further object of this invention to connect the plurality ofcylinders with a regenerating tank so that the exhausted or partiallyexhaust- "ice ed material may be rejuvenated in quantity therein ratherthan in the cylinders themselves.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from theaccompanying drawings and the following description and claims:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one of the containers shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the material supply tank.

In the drawings a rack or frame formed in part of pipelines throughwhich the liquid and/or water softening material flows is showngenerally at 10. This frame supports the plurality of water softeningcylinders as more fully described hereinafter. Extending along andforming what is normally the upper side of the frame is the pipe line11. Extending along and defining what is normally the lower part thereofis the pipe line 12. One end of the frame is formed by the pipe lines 13and 14 which are respectively coupled to the pipe line 11 by the elbow15 and to the pipe line 12 by the elbow 16. Both pipe lines 13 and 14are coupled to a three way T valve 17 which in turn is connected throughthe stem element of the T, to the pipe line 18 by the elbow 19 and pipeline 20.

The opposite end of the frame is defined by the dead tubing or rod 21which forms no part of the system. Intermediate the ends of the frame isa plurality of transversely disposed pipe lines 22 which are incommunication with both upper and lower pipe lines or headers 11 and 12.The transversely disposed pipe line nearest that end of the frame formedby pipe lines 13 and 14 is identified by the numeral 23. This pipe lineas well as the dead tubing or rod 21 has an outwardly projectingtrunnion 24 which is seatable within and movable relatively to thebearing member 25.

Since the frame is designed to support a substantial number of cylindersI have found it preferable to provide additional trunnions and bearingsintermediate opposite ends of the frame. To that end I provide, forexample, the dead tubing or rod 21a after every fifth cylinder. Each rod2111 also has an outwardly extending trunnion 24a which is welded orotherwise suitably secured to the adjacent transverse pipe line 22a.These trunnions, of which only one is shown in Fig. 1 (since parts ofthat figure are broken away) are mounted in the bearings 25a.

The bearing members 25 and 25a which support the frame are mounted uponstanchions or uprights 26 havmg circular bases 27 to permit their beingsecured in any suitable manner to the floor 28. As is apparent, theentire frame is swingable upon the bearings from the upright positionshown in Fig. 1 to a position in which the pipe line or header 12becomes the uppermost member of the frame. In short, the frame isreadily swingable, and with it the cylinders, from an upright to aninverted position for a purpose more fully described hereinafter.

The cylinders or water softener units are shown in Fig. 2 and are ofconventional type. They include the cylinder body 29, the mouth 30, theinlet nipple 31 and the outlet or opening 32 which has communicationwith the bottom of the cylinder through the pipe or tubing 33. As iswell known, a filter is employed adjacent the inlet opening as Well asadjacent the bottom portion of the pipe 33, namely the portion 34. Thesefilters prevent the water softening material from being removed from thecylinders while they are in use in the home, and also retain thematerial in the cylinders during the replenishing operation.

When the cylinder or water softening unit is removed from the home ofthe user after being replaced by a cylinder with rejuvenated material,it is carried to the service companys plant where the rejuvenation operation is performed through the use of the present invention. To that enda plurality of the cylinders or units containing the spent or partiallyexhausted water softening material are placed within the frame, theybeing supported between the series of horizontally spaced transverselydisposed pipe lines 22. Support or guide members 35 are employed toretain each cylinder in position between adjacent transversely disposedpipe lines. These guides may be in the form of chains or may be metallicmembers of arcuate conformation complementary to the contour of thecylinders. They are suitably connected to adjacent transversely disposedpipe lines 22 such as by Welding and the like.

When each cylinder is placed in position between the transverselydisposed pipe lines 22 so that it bears upon and is supported againstlateral movement by the guide members, its base 36 is seated upon thesupport member 37 connected by the piston rod 38 to a piston (not shown)in the air cylinders 39. An air cylinder is provided, as shown, betweeneach of the adjacent pairs of transversely disposed members 22. Each aircylinder is connected by a tubing 40 to an air line 41 which is in turnconnected to an air pump (not shown). It is necessary that the mouth ofeach cylinder be brought upwardly into abutting relation with thedepending mouth portion 42 of the normally upper headers or pipe lines11. A gasket 43 such as rubber or the like is interposed between themouth of the cylinder and the mouth of the depending portion in order toeffect a sealed communication therebetween. To that end each cylinder isautomatically and simultaneously raised by the air lifts upon the airpump being actuated. Any other lifting means, such for example ashydraulic, may or" course be employed.

Each cylinder is thus lifted into clamped or wedged position between thearcuate supporting member 37 of the air lift and the mouth 42 dependingfrom the pipe line 11. The guide members make certain that when eachcylinder is lifted, its mouth will be in communication with thedepending mouth portion of the header pipe line 11.

In order to connect the opening 32 of the cylinder outlet tube 33 ofeach cylinder to the system there is provided the flexible tubing 44which is connected at 45 to the transversely disposed pipe lines 22, andis detachably coupled at 46 to the opening of the outlet tube 33. Duringthe entire rejuvenation operation the inlet mouth 31 of each cylinder isclosed through the insertion therein of a plug of conventional design.In short, the inlet mouth which is connected to the water supply systemwhen the cylinder is in use in the home, serves no function and isplugged when the cylinders are being processed in the service companyplant.

In order to provide communication between the pipe lines of the frameand the regeneration tank 47 there is used the flexible tubing 48, oneend of which is coupled at 49 to the free end of pipe line or header 11.The other end thereof is coupled to the tubing 50 which terminates in aJ-shaped bend 51. The mouth of the bend is preferably disposed at thetop of the regeneration tank so that water, or the water and softeningmaterial may flow therefrom into the tank.

Returning now to a description of the pipe line 18 adjacent the oppositeend of the frame, it will be observed that it is connected by thethree-way T 52 to the main water supply branch 53. It is also connectedto the pipe line 54- which leads to the regeneration tank as shown.Valve 55 is interposed upstream of T 52 so that flow of liquidtherethrough can be stopped when desired as hereinafter described.

The operation of the apparatus and system while removing the spent orpartially exhausted material from the softener cylinders is as follows:The cylinders are each placed within the supporting frame where theyrest upon the arcuate air cylinder supports 37 and bear against theguide chains 35. The air pump is then actuated to cause the air lifts tolift each cylinder upwardly so that their mouths 3% are in sealedcommunication with the depending mouth portions 4-2 of the normallyupper pipe line or header 11. Then the flexible tubings 44 are coupledto the outlets or openings 32 of the respective cylinder 29. The inlets31 are plugged. Next the frame is tilted or swung about its pivots inthe form of trunnions 24 and 24a, until it is inverted. It is retainedby any suitable means in that position.

Now the cylinders are ready to have their material removed therefrom. Toaccomplish this the valve 53:: is adjusted to permit water from thebranch 53 to course into pipe line 18. Since the valve 55 will be closedduring this phase of the operation the water must course downwardlythrough pipe 18, elbow 19 and pipe line 20. The T valve 17 will havealready been adjusted so that water must flow from pipe line into pipeline 14 instead of pipe line 13. From thence the water courses throughheader 12 (which will now be in the upper position) and downwardlythrough the transverse pipe lines 22. From the respective transversepipe lines the Water passes through the flexible tubings 44, through thecylinder pipes or tubings 33 and into the cylinders themselves which, ofcourse, are now inverted. The water then carries the material out of therespective cylinder mouths and through the depending mouth portions ofheader 11. From thence it courses through that header, into the flexiblehose 48 through the tubing and into the regeneration tank.

This entire operation empties the cylinders of their materialsimultaneously. It is easy to determine when all of the cylinders areemptied by checking the mouth of tubing 50 that communicates with thetank. While there is still material coursing with the water through theapparatus, the color of the water emptying into the tank will have thereddish brown color that characterizes the material. But once thecylinders are removed of their material, the color of the water willalso reveal that fact. Consequently, by visual observation it canimmediately be determined just when the material removing operation iscompleted. At that time the valve 53a is adjusted to cut off the flow ofwater from the main branch 53. The frame is swung to its normal uprightposition and the flexible tubings 44 are detached or uncoupled from thecylinder openings. In addition the valve 56 putting the flexible hose 48in communication with the tubing 50 is turned to an off position.

Now the apparatus is ready for the cylinder filling operation. If butone regeneration tank is used it will, of course, be necessary to firstrejuvenate the material therein. But it is possible to use two tanks,one of which will be ready to fill the cylinders with rejuvenatedmaterial after the other tank has received the exhausted material fromthe cylinders clamped in the frame. Suitable pipe lines and valves canbe used to make possible the switching of communication from one tank tothe other. For the purposes of illustration, however, but one tank isshown in the drawings.

A second main water supply branch 57 controlled by valve 58 is then putin communication with flexible hose 48. Before the water reaches thathose it courses through an ejector 59 which creates a partial vacuum anddraws water and rejuvenated material suspensed in it, out of the tankthrough the pipe line 64 Thence the water and material flow into header11, and downwardly through the respective depending mouth portions 42and into the cylinders. Baffles 61 may be used in header 11 to directthe material into the depending mouth portions.

Since each cylinder is provided with the conventional filter 34 adjacentthe tubing 33 it is impossible for the material to flow therethrough.The water, of course, is unimpeded and courses through the filter andtubing, and out the now opened mouth thereof 32 spilling upon the floor.To prevent the spilled water from spreading over the floor, a trough orthe like (not shown) may be formed to catch the water and channel it toa drain (not shown).

It is clear from the foregoing description that water and rejuvenatedmaterial flowing into the frame will pass through each of the dependingmouth portions 42 into the plurality of cylinders thus filling each withthe material. Some water will, of course, bypass the series of dependingmouth portions and will course downwardly through pipe line 13, throughT valve 17, through pipe 20, elbow 19 and upwardly through pipe line 18.From thence it will course through T 52 through valve which in themeantime has been opened, and then through pipe line 54- to the tank.

Once each cylinder is filled with the rejuvenated material, and eachdepending mouth portion is similarly filled, there will be such arestriction to the passage of water therethrough that the water willbypass the cylinders. At that time there will be no more spilling ofwater out through the respective openings 32. It is then readilyapparent that the cylinders are refilled, and the operator will at thattime shut oif the valve that controls the main water supply branch 57. Arubber hammer or the like may then be used to tap the sides of thecylinders to cause the material therein to settle sufflciently to removethe material that has accumulated in the depending mouth portions. Theair pump is then actuated to lower each cylinder from sealedcommunication with the depending mouth portions. A cap is put on thecylinder mouth, and the cylinders are then ready for transportation tothe home.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in thedrawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered asillustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood thatonly the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that allchanges and modifications that come within the spirit of the inventionand the scope of the claims are also desired to be protected. I

The invention claimed is:

1. Apparatus for first removing spent water softening materialsubstantially simultaneously from multiple containers therefor and thensubsequently filling said containers substantially simultaneously withregenerated material, comprising a water supply line, valve meanstherefor, a substantially rectangular frame including normally upper andnormally lower pipe lines, said lower pipe line being substantiallyparallel to said upper pipe line and in communication with said watersupply line, said upper pipe line having a plurality of openings formedtherein, means for inverting said frame, a plurality of similarcontainers having adjacent inlet and outlet passages, said passagescommunicating respectively with the bottom and top of said containers,means supporting said containers between said upper and lower pipe linesso that the outlet passages of said containers communicate with therespective openings in said upper pipe line, a plurality of spacedconduits disposed substantially transversely of said upper and lowerpipe lines and each being in communication with said lower pipe line,detachable tubular means connecting said conduits with said respectivecontainer inlet passages, a regeneration tank having an outlet disposedadjacent the lower extremity thereof, valve means for said outlet, aflexible tube connected at one end to one end of said upper pipe lineand communicating with said tank outlet, a pipe line connected to saidflexible tube and communicating with said tank at the upper extremitythereof, valve means in said last mentioned pipe line, a second watersupply line in communication with said flexible tube and with said tankoutlet, valve means in said second supply line selectively directingwater into said upper pipe line through said flexible tube upon theclosing of the valve means for said first supply line and said pipe lineconnected to the flexible tube, ejector means in said second supply linefor removing water containing regenerated softening material from saidtank outlet into said upper pipe line through said flexible tube, andtubular means connected to the other end of said upper pipe line andcommunicating with said tank adjacent the upper extremity thereof.

2. Apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein said normally upper andnormally lower pipe lines are spaced apart a distance slightly greaterthan the length of said containers, and wherein the means supportingsaid containers are adjustable and comprise a plurality of hydraulicmeans each being connected to said normally lower pipe line andincluding a member engageable with the bottom of said respectivecontainers.

3. Apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein adjacent pairs of the spacedconduits disposed substantially transversely of said upper and lowerpipe lines have means bridging the space therebetween engageable by saidcylinders for lateral support thereof.

4. Apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein said upper pipe line has aplurality of baflles mounted therein adjacent said pipe line openings.

5. Apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein the means for inverting saidframe comprise a plurality of opposed trunnions mounted upon selectedtransverse conduits intermediate the ends thereof, and upright standardshaving bearings formed at the upper end thereof, said trunnions beingjournalled in said bearings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,698,743 Sweeney Ian. 15, 1929 2,252,065 Culligan Aug. 12, 19412,370,190 Ralston Feb. 27, 1945 2,572,082 Welsh Oct. 23, 1951 2,589,136Ranston Mar. 11, 1952 2,628,192 Ziegelman Feb. 10, 1953

1. APPARATUS FOR FIRST REMOVING SPENT WATER SOFTENING MATERIALSUBSTANTIALLY SIMULTANEOUSLY FROM MULTIPLE CON TAINERS THEREFOR AND THENSUBSEQUENTLY FITTING SAID CONTAINERS SUBSTANTIALLY SIMULTANEOUSLY WITHREGENERATED MATERIAL, COMPRISING A WATER SUPPLY LINE. VALVE MEANSTHEREFOR, A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR FRAME INCLUDING NORMALLY UPPER ANDNORMALLY LOWER PIPE LINES, SAID LOWER PIPE LINE BEING SUBSTANTIALLYPARALLEL TO SAID UPPER PIPE LINE AND IN COMMUNICATION WITH SAID WATERSUPPLY LINE, SAID UPPER PIPE LINE HAVING A PLURALITY OF OPENINGS FORMEDTHEREIN, MEANS FOR INVENTING SAID FRAME, A PLURALITY FO SIMILARCONTAINERS HAVING ADJACENT INLET AND OUTLET PASSAGES, SAID PASSAGESCOMMUNICATING RESPECTIVELY WITH THE BOTTOM AND TOP OF SAID CONTAINERS,MEANS SUPPORTING SAID CONTAINERS BETWEEN SAID UPPER AND LOWER PIPELINES, SO THAT THE OUTLET PASSAGES OF SAID CONTAINERS COMMUNICATE WITHTHE RESPECTIVE OPENINGS IN SAID UPPER PIPE LINE, A PLURALITY FO SPACEDCONDUITS DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY TRANSVERSELY OF SAID UPPER AND LOWERPIPE LINES AND EACH BEING IN COMMUNICATION WITH SAID LOWER PIPE LINE,DETACHABLE TUBULAR MEANS CONNECTING SAID CONDUITS WITH SAID RESPECTIVECONTAINER INLET PASSAGES, A REGEN-